Empress Julia Domna was not a Roman, but came from a province of the Roman Empire, like other empresses.

1.- Look up for information and complete the chart with the following data about the empresses of the High Empire: Agrippina the Younger, Faustina the Elder, Julia Domna and Pompeia Plotina. They must be listed chronologically.  

Origin: Colonia Agrippina, Emesa (Syria), Ituci (Tejada la Nueva, Huelva, Spain), Ucubi (Espejo, Cordoba, Spain).

Dynasty: Antonine, Julio-Claudian, Severan.

Reign: 49-54 AD, 98-117 AD., 138-140 AD, 193-211 AD.

Husband: Antoninus Pius, Claudius, Septimius Severus, Trajan.

2.- Read the following excerpt and write a short outline, paying attention to the text in bold.

Syrian empresses such as Julia Domna, her sister Julia Maesa and her nieces Julia Soemias, mother of Heliogabalus, and Julia Mamea, mother of Severus Alexander, have been given their name because of their origin. These four eastern empresses managed to exercise control and power, which at the time was inconceivable for women. From their roles as wives, mothers or grandmothers of emperors, they influenced them, thus becoming part of politics from a hidden, indirect position; they were the true leaders of the Empire in that period.

3.- In the Imperial Crisis and the Lower Roman Empire we also find empresses of non-Roman origin, answer the questions posed about them.

a.- Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, was born near Nicomedia. What other name is she remembered with and why?

b.- Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius I, was born in Constantinople (in Byzantium). To her we owe the restoration of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome and the completion of San Giovanni Evangelista, in Rome. What important monument in Ravenna is named after her?

c.- Ulpia Severina, wife of Aurelianus, was from the province of Dacia (current Romania). She was the only woman to rule the Roman Empire in the interregnum period, between which emperors was this?

d.- Aelia Flaccila, first wife of Theodosius the great, was from Hispania (Douro/Italica area). What emperors were her sons?

4.- Click this link and try to find the places of origin of the empresses mentioned:  https://www.geografiainfinita.com/2017/06/las-calzadas-romanas-mapa-metro/. Write the names of the empresses on the following map, next to their corresponding arrows.

5.- List the viae that  the empresses of the High Empire might have taken to get to Rome.